Jehovah's Witnesses Ordered to Pay $35 Million to Child Abuse Victim

A jury has ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses must pay $35 million to an abuse victim

A jury has ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses must pay $35 million to a woman who was sexually abused by a congregation member when she was a child.

The now-21-year-old woman says the church’s national organization covered-up the crime by ordering Montana clergy members not to report her sexual abuse.

A judge must now review the penalty following the jury's verdict.

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York - the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ national organization — says it plans to appeal the ruling.

The woman’s attorney, Neil Smith, says Wednesday’s verdict carries a clear message to the church regarding the handling of child abuse cases and reporting crimes to outside authorities.

“Hopefully that message is loud enough that this will cause the organization to change its priorities in a way that they will begin prioritizing the safety of children so that other children aren’t abused in the future,” Smith said in a statement on Thursday.

Lawyers for the Jehovah’s Witnesses said in court documents that Montana law exempts elders from reporting “internal ecclesiastical proceedings on a congregation member’s serious sin.”

The church also contended that the national organization isn’t liable for the actions by Thompson Falls elders, and that too much time has passed for the women to sue.

The jury granted the 21-year-old woman $4 million for her injuries, plus $30 million in punitive damages against Watchtower and $1 million in punitive damages against the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, another Jehovah’s Witness corporation that communicates with congregations across the U.S.

The monetary award must be reviewed by the trial judge and could be decreased.

A Montana law caps punitive damage awards at 3 percent of a company’s net worth or $10 million, whichever is less.

A legal challenge to that law is pending before the Montana Supreme Court.

The jury dismissed claims that the church should have reported the second woman’s abuse by the same congregation member.

Jurors decided church elders did not receive notice of the 32-year-old woman’s abuse in 1998 as she said they did and therefore did not have a duty to tell authorities.

The third family member who claimed abuse was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.